Penn State's special teams not so special in loss to Nebraska

Penn State tight end Jesse James (18) gets past Nebraska safety Corey Cooper (6) for a touchdown after catching a pass from Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) during fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

STATE COLLEGE - On his final snap at Beaver Stadium, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones tried to push through the line to block Pat Smith's 42-yard field goal.

After he heard Smith's cleat hit the football, Jones turned toward the south end zone to watch the flight of the kick. When it cleared the crossbar by a few yards, Jones knew his last home game was over.

"It sucked," he said. "There was nothing we could do. I turned around, caught a glimpse of it and saw it was going straight down the middle. I just kind of jogged off the field."

Smith's game-winning field goal gave Nebraska a 23-20 overtime win and spoiled the Nittany Lions' Senior Day celebration in cold, blustery and snowy conditions.

The loss left Penn State (3-4 Big Ten, 6-5) needing to beat Wisconsin next week on the road to post a winning season.

"It was just a heartbreaker," senior linebacker Glenn Carson said. "It was a tough one to swallow. It's been such an up and down season. It would have been really nice to get this one on Senior Day."

The Lions had the ball first in overtime and couldn't pick up a first down. Sam Ficken, who missed a PAT in the first quarter, tried a 37-yard field goal, but it was wide to the right.

Last year on Senior Day, Ficken hit a field goal in overtime before Wisconsin missed a field goal try, enabling Penn State to win.

"We've done pretty well in overtime. We were always confident. We never gave up hope, even after Sam's miss."

Ficken's two misses weren't the only mistakes made by Penn State's special teams.

The Lions gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown for the second straight game, Kenny Bell dashing 99 yards for a score in the third quarter. And Alex Butterworth had a punt blocked in the second quarter.

"We take a lot of pride in special teams," Zerbe said. "To have those complications today, it hurts."

Penn State's defense played well enough to win, limiting Nebraska's offense to one touchdown. The Lions twice stopped the Cornhuskers (5-2, 8-3) at the 1.

Safety Malcom Willis caused running back Ameer Abdullah to fumble at the 1 in the second quarter, and Jesse Della Valle recovered in the end zone.

In the fourth quarter, linebacker Mike Hull clocked reserve quarterback Ron Kellogg III at the 1, forcing Nebraska to settle for Smith's 19-yard field goal, which tied it 20-20 with 4:29 left.

"The defense played a whale of a game," Penn State coach Bill O'Brien said, "but you win as a team and you lose as a team."

With the Lions trailing 7-6, defensive end C.J. Olaniyan knocked the ball loose from Kellogg and recovered the fumble at the Nebraska 8. Two plays later, freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg scored on a bootleg.

But the Cornhuskers quickly regained the lead when Bell fielded the ensuing kickoff at the 1, sprinted through a hole and faked out Ficken before scoring.

"We gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown, which is not good," O'Brien said. "We just gotta continue to try to work on it and fix it."

Offensively, the Lions moved the ball, but like Nebraska had trouble converting on third downs. Penn State was 2-for-14, and the Cornhuskers were 3-for-17.

Hackenberg passed for 217 yards and two touchdowns, including a short throw that tight end Jesse James turned into a 46-yard score. That put the Lions up 20-17 early in the fourth quarter.

With Bill Belton in street clothes because of a shoulder injury and strep throat, Zach Zwinak carried the load for Penn State and finished with 149 yards on 35 rushes, his third straight 100-yard game.

"I thought Zach ran great," Zerbe said. "He's a bulldozer. He runs hard every time he gets the ball. He gave it his all. I have a lot of respect for him."

For Nebraska's offense, Kellogg replaced freshman starter Tommy Armstrong Jr. in the first quarter after Armstrong injured an ankle. Kellogg was effective, completing 20-of-34 passes for 191 yards and one touchdown, and so was Abdullah, who rushed for 147 yards.

The Lions outgained the Cornhuskers 387-360, but in the end were done in by their special teams.

"We all felt really confident going to overtime," Carson said. "I thought everybody on our team thought we were going to get it done. It just didn't go our way this time."